1. Technical Field
The invention relates to diagnostic instruments, particularly to biological reagents.
2. Related Art
A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of an analyte, that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector. A common example of a commercial biosensor is the blood glucose biosensor, which uses the enzyme glucose oxidase to break blood glucose down. In doing so it first oxidizes glucose and uses two electrons to reduce the FAD (a component of the enzyme) to FADH2. This in turn is oxidized by the electrode (accepting two electrons from the electrode) in a number of steps. The resulting current is a measure of the concentration of glucose. In this case, the electrode is the transducer and the enzyme is the biologically active component.
For the sake of portability or home use, compact biosensors using disposable test strips appear in the market and are extensively used. Different types of test strips may have a similar or the same shape or appearance. Users must visually distinguish and confirm the compatibility between a biosensor and a test strip. It is possible that an incompatible test strip is misapplied in a biosensor. There must be a risk of misapplying an incompatible test strip. This is a really serious problem for users or patients.